Jul 7, 2007

Just-Ice On The Rocks...

Why did he suddenly barge into the legal process and erase the entire 30-month sentence of Scooter Libby?

For, from his own statement, Bush found the act deeply distasteful.

In that statement, Bush calls Libby's crimes "serious convictions of perjury and obstruction of justice." He praises Patrick Fitzgerald as "a highly qualified professional prosecutor who carried out his responsibilities as charged."

Bush indicated no disagreement with the verdict.

"[A] jury of citizens weighed all the evidence and listened to all the testimony and found Mr. Libby guilty of perjury and obstructing justice. . . . our entire system of justice relies on people telling the truth. And if a person does not tell the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds the public trust, he must be held accountable."

"I respect the jury's verdict," Bush added.

Bush went on to detail the punishments that will stand.

"My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. . . . The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant and private citizen will be long-lasting."

This reads like the preamble to Judge Reggie Walton's imposition of the two-and-a-half-year prison sentence. Yet, this is contained in Bush's explanation for wiping out Libby's entire sentence. It is mystifying.

Why did Bush do it? Why did he intervene at all? Why now? Why not let Scooter go to jail and commute the sentence at Christmas, if he thought it excessive?

The suddenness of Bush's action is easiest explained. Hours before he tossed his commutation statement to the press, the court had turned down Libby's last request that he be allowed to stay out of prison as his appeal is heard. Bush's need to act was obvious. Scooter was on his way to prison.

But why did Bush rush to spare him even one day behind bars?

Three explanations come to mind.

The first is that Bush capitulated to intense pressure from the neoconservative commentariat led by The Wall Street Journal and The Weekly Standard.

To these folks, Scooter is no felon. Scooter is a hero. In the neocon network, Scooter was the pivot man in the veep's office moving the cherry-picked intel on Saddam's WMD, Saddam's nukes, Saddam's ties to 9/11 and al Qaeda to a collaborationist press as determined as he was to smash Iraq and Iran, secure Israel and control the Middle East.

So what if Scooter lied to cover up the White House campaign to carve up Joe Wilson? If Scooter did it, good Straussian that he is, he did it for the highest of motives in the noblest of causes.

To the neocons, Scooter is, in Ahmed Chalabi's phrase, "a hero in error," one of the boys. And as they saved him from the slammer, they will not stop until they secure him a pardon — to which Bush has now opened the door.

The second explanation is that Vice President Cheney went to Bush, closed the door, and asked, as a personal favor, that he spare Cheney's faithful friend and loyal aide the disgrace and pain of prison. And Bush did this distasteful and shameful act at the behest of a vice president to whom he feels an immense debt.

The third explanation is that Cheney, and perhaps the president, fears that if Scooter goes to prison, and is staring at disgrace and 30 months away from friends and family, he may think he has been abandoned by people whose secrets he kept at the cost of reputation and freedom. An idle mind being the devil's workshop, Scooter might sit down and write a book, or phone "Bulldog" Fitzgerald and tell him he just remembered something.

Whatever the motives of President Bush, this was a radical not a conservative act. Whoever pressured Bush to wipe out Scooter's sentence was more a friend of Scooter than a friend of Bush. For the president has damaged his reputation as a just ruler, so Scooter could elude what other men have to face.

Will the student deferments for these fellows never end?

The act reeks of cronyism. The perception is that Scooter Libby got preferential treatment, a get-out-of-jail-free card because he was chief of staff to Cheney and assistant to Bush.

That perception is correct.

Because of whom he knew, Scooter got preferential treatment, big-time. The Godfather took care of the consigliere.

Nothing new. After all, one recalls that the attorney who rustled up a pardon for Marc Rich from Bill Clinton was also a Beltway hustler by the name of Scooter Libby. The insiders take care of their own.

Oh boy. I see...Out of the blue and by e-mail, he expressed extraordinary and inaccurate notions of my lifestyle and personal habits and proposed that he and I have an affair. I suspected at the time that he had ulterior motives. Sex in Washington, D.C. rarely has anything to do with sex  it’s usually about dirty tricks and dirty politics.

WAYNE MADSEN REPORT - The corporate media still does not get it about the so-called "Washington Madam" case. Beyond just another titillating DC sex scandal, this affair involves the U.S. Attorneys firings, massive bribery involving military and homeland security contracts, and potential blackmail of high government officials. WMR can report that Disney and ABC executives spiked the Washington Madam story at the very last . . . The decision by Disney and ABC to kill the 20/20 story resulted in a shocked news staff at ABC News' DeSales Street bureau across the street from the Mayflower Hotel, one of the rendezvous points for some Pamela Martin clients. Our sources stated that Ross, Schwartz, Rood, and others at ABC tried their best to get the story out but were overruled by senior executives at ABC in New York and Disney headquarters in Burbank, California who, in turn, were under heavy pressure from the Bush White House.

Well now, the corruption has been going for 30 years then. Perhaps I should fetch older articles.

I wonder if like everything else in this country, the corrupted/evil ever really stopped or changed tactics or just got privatized? What happened to all those victims? What happened to their abusers? Has everything been released? Same old, same old.

Did Patrick J Fitzgerald catch the Plame leaker yet? After 3 years? Surely that has to be more than enough time. If he knew going in to the investigation that the leaker was Armitage, then why did the investigation go for 3 years? What a waste of money when you end up with zilch to show for 3 years of hard(ly) work!

Phil, where do you get your info on the case? I find it is helpful to read about an issue from many sources with different viewpoints. If you only investigate a story from a specific view of the issue, that may be all you'll find. You will find what you wanted to find and miss what is really happening or has happened.Your cognitive dissonance will be reconciled, but you may sacrifice the truth in the process.

Yeah, I'm a freaking weirdo. Are you? So why did a network news station and their "experts" say water needed fluoride recently? One would think the perps would have stopped, covering something else up?Hmmm...Bush said him and Blair use Colgate toothpaste. Go figure.

"Neither the Smithsonian Institution or its successors, nor any museum or other agency, bureau or facilities administered for the United States of America by the Smithsonian Institution or its successors shall publish or permit to be displayed a statement or label in connection with or in respect of any aircraft model or design of earlier date than the Wright Aeroplane of 1903, claiming in effect that such aircraft was capable of carrying a man under its own power in controlled flight."

The Dictator did what he had to do because he wasn't smart enough to do anything before Libby was found guilty.

Someone asked a real stupid question about what happen to the investigation of the CIA Leak. I guess Bush did complete the dumbing down of Americans. As the White House staff did their best to cover up and lie as Libby even went so far as to obstruct justice it would have been impossible for Fitz to get to the bottom of this. As Bush continues to break the law and stops employees from talking the educated Americans can see this is a deep cover up. Nixon and Clinton didn't get executive privilege but Bush is giving it to everyone in the White House even those who non longer work there. He has taken the Justice System and destroyed it. Judges aren't necessary nor are lawyers in America now. George W. Bush will set the law at what ever he want and some stupid Americans will say well he's the President. When the taxes go up to cover the 7 trillion dollar lost in the US Treasury let's see how Americans feel about that. Thanks to Bush/Cheney are Military is weak, US Treasury broke and American jobs are outsourced. I notice no out cry from Americans so I guess it's ok with them. To any young bloggers no worry England and Canada have alot of jobs even for Americans and all are welcome.

"Once a top intelligence officer at the Pentagon who helped uncover Pakistan's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, Barlow insisted on telling the truth, and it led to his undoing.

He complained in 1989 that top officials in the administration of President George H.W. Bush--including the deputy assistant secretary of defense--were misleading Congress about the Pakistani program. He was fired and stripped of his security clearances. His intelligence career was destroyed; his marriage collapsed.

Federal investigations found Barlow was unfairly fired, winning him sympathy from dozens of Democratic and Republican lawmakers and public interest groups. But for 17 years, he has fought without success to gain a federal pension, blocked at every turn by legal and political obstacles also faced by other federal intelligence whistle-blowers."

We have already seen the left in sexual political scandals. Remember Bill "I-did-not-have-sexual-relations-with-that-woman" Clinton? The point is that these neo con religious right dickheads are suposed to be so pure and clean and when it comes out that they are just fucking hypocrits and are just as base as the ones they demean, then that is a political scandal the right wants to avoid or squash altogether. And the bigger the names on that list, the more the neo cons seek to avoid disclosure!

Personally I don't care who gets outed for sexual scandals if they are being blackmailed. It seems in this country, the candidates most likely to be bribed, blackmailed, or are half-nuts have someone helping them in office. <<<< Probably the very same people that set them up for blackmail. The perps doing the blackmailing should be off to prison.

the email her atty sent This afternoon, Jeane decided that the telephone records of the escort service should be made publicly available for reasons detailed on the download page on her website. ------The site has already crashed, due to lack of interest haha

I can email them to anyone interested, since they are all public now. We had a disclosure agreement regarding them, which I intend to use anyway. No employee names or most clients released. There are only a few names I am interested in..I have some good friends anxious to help;)

WASHINGTON - Sen. David Vitter, R-La., apologized Monday night for "a very serious sin in my past" after his telephone number appeared among those associated with an escort service operated by the so-called "D.C. Madam."

Vitter's spokesman, Joel Digrado, confirmed the statement in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press.

"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible," Vitter said in the statement. "Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there — with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."

The statement containing Vitter's apology said his telephone number was on old phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates before he ran for the Senate.

Deborah Jeane Palfrey was accused in federal court of racketeering by running a prostitution ring that netted more than $2 million over 13 years, beginning in 1993. She contends, however, that her escort service, Pamela Martin and Associates, was a legitimate business.

Vitter, 46, a Republican in his first Senate term, was elected to the Senate in 2004. He represented Louisiana's 1st Congressional District in the House from 1999 to 2004.

Vitter and his wife, Wendy, live in Metairie, La., with their four children.

Palfrey's attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley, told the AP, "I'm stunned that someone would be apologizing for this already." He said Palfrey had posted the names of her escort service's clients online Monday, but he did not know whether Vitter's name was among them.

The AP was unable to connect to Palfrey's Web site Monday night.

Earlier this year Palfrey, 51, of Vallejo, Calif., asked the Supreme Court to delay the criminal case against her — a request the court denied in May. Her attorney had argued that it was unfair to proceed against Palfrey because her assets remain seized in a civil forfeiture case, meaning she lacks the money to hire an attorney of her choice.

Randall Tobias, a senior official in the State Department, resigned in April after ABC News confronted him about his use of the escort service. He admitted that he had hired women to come to his Washington condo and give him massages but denied that he had sex with the escorts.

I hope people allow this Deborah Palfrey her right to be innocent until proven guilty. It sounds more like a witch hunt or trying to get viewers to a web site. It's sad to see some people will use a serious problem and exploit it but I guess it's a sign of the times. No wonder the Bush Administration can get away with the corruption as Americans will do anything and everything to stick it to someone for a second of fame. Miss Palfrey business was not prostitution service, but an adult service her only problem is the people who used her service. Adult services, books, videos are a billion dollar business. Even Mary Carey gave the GOP thousands of dollars yet no one said a word about how she got her money. The next time you see an x-rated movie or read Playboy you never know you might be arrested. Now the White House will have to get rid of those Playboy magazines in the lobby or maybe not. Some people would rather believe lies then deal with the truth. When this case is dropped we'll just move on to the next person who has scandal, let's hope it's not Paris Hilton again.

I don't have them posted, only the link to Ms Palfrey's site. It's down right now.

She put them out to everyone in media, Jackie, and she explained she was concerned about people manipulating the data base, since the disk were being already bootlegged. They are phone numbers on old bills, with no names on them.

Her legal argument is that she was selling a legal service and if she was not then the clients should be brought into this too.

I think people are more concerned about the national security compromised than going on a witch hunt or their own fame-although Brian Ross did hope to get an award from his story. And yes, this is about hypocrisy-not sex and not destroying peoples lives.

Kitty, I am sure there are notable names on the list-her site keeps crashing...And there are 13 years worth of records to go through, so it will take a while. It's just numbers, no names. I tried to send to you, the files are very large.

Write if anyone wants them, I can send one at a time. I won't have time with my crew to go over them until later today.

I agree people's sex lives are their own-but the hypocrisy and national security issues involved here are not the slightest bit funny...

Prez Boosh is here...always worries me as to what is next when he comes to this state.

Should Ohio duck and cover?

Forgiveness, well yes. On a personal level, I would hold it against only those who are married and used her service. So what if single men have, I don't see that as blackmail/security issue. As a blogger, I don't intend to publish them.

Betty Buckaneer and I have to give Ms. Palfrey credit for tapping in to that need.

To answer the Anon's question about yesterday's hearing with the govenment and defense concerning Libby's commutation. An excerpt from SCOTUSblog:

Initially, Fitzgerald contended that the President's commutation order did not seek to alter any part of Libby's sentence except the 30-month prison term, so supervised release -- a valid part of the sentence -- was not disturbed. As a second argument, responding directly to Judge Walton's expressed skepticism that the supervised release would remain in effect if Libby never served a day in prison (the law speaks of supervised release being served "after imprisonment," Fitzgerald suggested that Libby did serve a single day in confinement -- the day he was processed by the U.S. Marshal's Service. That constituted official detention, and thus supervised release could come after that.Fitzgerald's ultimate conclusion was that Libby's term of supervised release began on July 2, the day President Bush commuted the prison sentence but left the release condition intact.

In a nutshell, the defense team sides with the Preident on commuting Libby's sentencing in their 3 page filing. Whereas, Fitzgerald is in agreement with the commuted sentence however the day in which Bush commuted Libby's sentence is the day Libby should have started his probation. We will wait for Walton. If Walton goes agrees with both defense and prosecution, then Libby would report for probation. And that is where we don't know what Bush will do. He may be stupid enough to tryo to commute Libby's probation since Libby will be marked as a convicted felon. We shall see.

I apologize that haven't been on this blog since I busy schedule and jugging different project. And I did write an article about Ms. Palfrey on Newsinkling.org in which I had gotten her approval to post the article. Since I learned of her release of her records very late yesterday, I said in a email to her and copied her civil atrorney Montgomery Blair Sibley that I will look at the records.

In an email to Ms. Palfrey, my interest is not exposing the married officials on the list or focus on the morality of the individuals who maybe on the phone list. And some bloggers are focus on exposing them for they are. My focus has always been is why her company and Ms. Palfrey was targeted by the government when in the 13 years of her business that she never been audited or flagged by the IRS and paid her taxes on time. The timeline of her case and the officials names are the key on those phone records. In one shape or form, Ms. Palfrey's case is possibly political motivated to silence her. Why and how need to be looked into.

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About Me

Think Globally Prosecute Locally
- I grew up in Flatbush, kept my nose clean, went to law school. Now that I am in Chicago and D.C. I have found that the rampant graft and corruption to be a travesty - a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham.
---Favorite quote --- "Conditional love is an oxymoron." - Yours truly